That One Where The Sound Four Don't Die (well, mostly)
by Pomodoridori
Summary: AU where the Sound Four are scattered, and brought back to Kohona for interrogation. They are more human than they appear.
1. Chapter 1

Kankuro was on his way back to the Leaf to report when he heard a low whine come trickling out from Black Ant. He scowled, annoyed. Apparently his opponent hadn't died of trauma and blood loss yet. _That will complicate things._

Kankuro didn't want to kill the ninja outright- that'd be a waste of energy since he (they?) were already contained. _Besides,_ Kankuro thought, _there's always interrogation. I'm sure the Leaf will find a use for them._

Kankuro arrived at the Leaf village near sunset. The leaves were red and orange from the sun's dying breath, and a night breeze was picking up. _Still, it's nothing like the sunsets in Suna. Our open horizons give us a spectacular view._ He sighed, wishing he were home. _Soon. Soon._

Kankuro reported to Lady Tsunade's office immediately, ignoring standard protocol, mainly because he was uninjured. _Well, aside from mild chakra depletion, but that can be fixed with a little rest._ _And that sound ninja in the Black Ant...well, it's been awhile since he's made any noises. Probably unconscious._ Kankuro snickered. _Poor bastard._

"Are you going to keep me waiting laughing by yourself outside my door or are you gonna come in?" The fifth Hokage did not sound very happy. Kankuro shook his head and entered.

"I apologize, my Lady."

"Hmph. Go on, stop wasting my time and give your mission report. And what happened to my genin?"

Tsunade, Kankuro realized, was impatient. _Definitely worried._ And smelled of sake. So probably tipsy, if not drunk. "Well, when I arrived on scene the enemy was about to finish off what's-his-face- dogboy- but I intervened."

Tsunade frowned, then asked sharply, "You mean Kiba?"

"Yeah, I think it was him." Kankuro scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I've got a bad memory for names." That, of course, was a lie, but the Fifth had no need to know that.

"You think I care? This information is important, hurry it up!" Tsunade was starting to look angry now. Kankuro decided to stop stalling and give the rest of the mission report. _Thing is, it's so damn boring..._

"Well, er, Kiba needed emergency first aid. The medic nin you sent along with our team were able to start working on him almost right away. He has a deep wound on his abdomen- looked like the oblique muscles, and I don't think he'd injured his internal organs." Kankuro shrugged. "But again, I didn't get a very good look. And the medics said they could definitely handle it."

Tsunade's shoulders relaxed, dropping down. "Good," was all she said. And then, grouchily- "Anything else? I want to know why your puppet is dripping blood all over my damn floor."

Kankuro smiled. "My gift to you. I captured two of the enemy ninja. The two that were attacking, erm, Kiba."

The Fifth hokage scowled. "I thought you said you finished off his _enemy,_ not _enemies_."

Kankuro was still grinning. "Well, they were sort of both."

Tsunade steepled her hands and glared at him. "Explain."

"Well, they were conjoined twins. Who can separate at will. And re-enter each other's bodies." Kankuro repressed a shudder. "It was kind of gross, actually."

"Mm. More disgusting than the blood you so rudely let get on my nice floors, hm?"

"My apologies. My Black Ant tends to be a little messy."

"Hmph. You brought them to be interrogated?"

Kankuro bowed his head. "If that is what the Leaf believes is best."

Tsunade smiled. It was a terrible, chilling smile, and Kankuro really, _really_ wished it wasn't directed at him. "Take them to the medic core. Let the chunin I send to meet you handle it from there. And then you come back here to clean this mess from my floors."

Kankuro nodded. _Anything to get away from that smile. It's almost as bad as Gaara's._ "I'll be back." He began to walk to the door.

"And, Kankuro?"

He swallowed. _Please don't be smiling._ He turned and winced (her smile would haunt him for _days_ ). "Yes?"

"Thank you for your help."

"Of course. It's the Sand's pleasure." _Now will you let me go, please?_

" _Hurry_. Their blood _stinks._ "

Kankuro hurried.

The medics were not at all fazed when Kankuro opened Black Ant. Not when the blood splattered everywhere, and not when the white-haired twins came falling out with a sickening crunch ( _there goes someone's nose_ , Kankuro thought). He was almost impressed by the medic's stoic-ness. Keyword: _almost._ Kankuro's seen some shit, thanks to Gaara. He's not surprised easily anymore.

The brown-haired chunin with the scar stepped forward. "We'll take it from here," he said. "Our thanks to the Sand."

Kankuro nodded.

Cleaning Tsunade's floor _sucked_ , and reminded Kankuro of their old D-rank missions, but at least it didn't take long. He was out of her office and back to the rooms Kohona had provided in less than fifteen minutes. There, he began the long task of cleaning Black Ant and Crow, a far more captivating task.

The moment Kidomaru regained consciousness he struggled not to scream. His belly was on _fire_ , and it was all he could do not to curl up and cry. He could feel something ruptured and bleeding in his abdomen, could see the swelling where his belt bit into his skin. A rib was nudging his lung, gently. It hurt like _hell_ , almost worse than Orochimaru's lab. Almost.

Kidomaru was convinced he was going to die. He had organ damage. Hardly any chakra left. It was a battle just to breathe. And in his rising sense of panic he almost forgot where he was.

The light filtering down from the trees was bright, _too_ bright, and all he could see now was a fuzzy white light cloaking everything and making the trees glow. The urge to curl up on himself was overwhelming now, but he _couldn't_ , because his legs weren't responding, and neither were his arms. Fear shuddered through him, and Kidomaru squinched his eyes shut tight.

He stayed that way, listening to his rabbit-fast thumping pulse for what felt like forever (he was surprised he wasn't dead yet), until footsteps crunched the gravel near his head. "Hey!" came a deep, scary voice, "This one's still alive!"

By the time Kidomaru processed that ( _enemy ninja_ , his mind buzzed, _probably Leaf. I'm a dead man_ ) there was a rumbling sound replying. He didn't catch the words. _Pitch too deep, and I'm too tired._

He was exhausted, now that he thought about it.

Something heavy and warm touched his abdomen, and Kidomaru flinched back into the dirt. "Don't," he mumbled, mouth dry and heavy, " _Please,_ " he added, knowing it'd make no difference.

"Whoa, easy there," said that same deep voice, except now Kidomaru almost heard- "I'll heal you right up. Need you alive for the interrogation."

Chakra buzzed against Kidomaru's belly, and even as he opened his eyes in shock, it sank its teeth into his skin. The chakra seeped into his belly, pooling around broken capillaries and clogging them, blocking the flood of blood. Warmth spread through him. Something akin to a whimper escaped him. The man merely blinked at him, fuzzy with that white light.

"You need rest," he said.

Kidomaru's eyes were heavy. He tried to stay focused, and calm, and _ready_ , because he had to escape. But the warm heavy hand on his belly was too soft, _too gentle_ , and despite himself Kidomaru was fighting to stay awake. He knew it was just the effects of the healing, but-

Kidomaru's breathing slowed, deepened. His hands relaxed from where they'd been gripping white knuckled at the dirt. His mouth got slack and soft and wide.

"Poor kid," the medic-nin sighed. "Intel'll rip him apart." He finished wrapping the bandages over Kidomaru's chest and pulled him up onto his back. _It'll be too easy, too, after the sedatives I just pumped into him._

Kidomaru woke when he was being strapped to the cot in the medic ward. He was groggy and terrified and weak, but he struggled. "No," he said, low and mumbling, " _don't._ Orochimaru-sama, _please._ "

One of the medic nin paused. "Maybe we shouldn't-"

"No," another cut in, "he has to be secure."

The medic nin nodded. "Yes ma'am." And held down Kidomaru's wrist. The boy struggled for a few seconds more, and then slumped into unconsciousness.

When Sakon woke, he was blind and alone. _...Ukon?_

Silence. He tried with his voice, low and cracking, "Ukon..?"

The drip of faraway water was his only response. Sakon swallowed, hard. He inhaled, took the smell of the place in- it was humid, and something was rotting, and there was the scent of blood and piss and shit. The faraway water kept dripping.

 _Okay,_ he thought hazily, _so I'm probably in a retention facility of some sort. I don't know where Ukon is...or if he's alive._ Sakon bit his lip to avoid thinking about it. _If Ukon died...I wouldn't...I couldn't…_

It took Sakon a few moments to get his breathing under control. _Can't panic. Not now. Later._

It was time to assess the damage to his body. He was badly bruised. His eyes were swollen shut, and leaking something down his cheeks, which were crusty with it. They stung horribly. Sakon wanted to cry, but couldn't. So instead he cursed that damn leaf nin and his dog. _They ought to rot in hell, after what they did to us._

He had two stab wounds. One was through his femur, and it had swollen enough to tell him something had nicked the bone. His right hand was bisected through the palm, but, with effort, he could move most of his fingers. … _Good._

Sakon took a deep breath. Someone had patched his wounds with gauze and wraps- there was a faint smell of some kind of herbal ointment. It was just enough to keep him from bleeding out. Sakon suspected someone had also pumped extra chakra into his system to prevent him dying from shock. And there had to be _something_ in his blood keeping the pain level down. Because the general ache he was feeling? Was _nothing_ compared to the pain he ought to have been in.

 _...They must want information. Why else would they keep me alive?_

Sakon tried to remember what had happened. He'd washed his eyes out...and then, that explosion...Ukon merging in him...tracking the enemy nin...splitting up...the puppet intervening, Sakon needing to heal...something trapping them both, and Sakon raking his fingers down the side of it, yelling, scrabbling to get out, then- pain. And after that he'd woken up here.

Sakon ground his teeth in frustration. _I need Ukon. He'd know what to do._

When Kidomaru finally came-to, he found himself tied to a cot. Each of his arms were bound with chakra dampeners, and fastened at the wrist to the side of the bed. His fingers were swaddled with cloth and impossible to move.

 _So much for jutsu,_ he thought woozily, _and the dampeners will prevent me from activating my curse mark. ...Well, it shouldn't be a problem. Although it's unusual to be tied down after a mission. Maybe I caused trouble when Kabuto tried to heal me?_

His legs and torso were also secured in a similar fashion. Kidomaru scrunched his nose in frustration, and instead focused on cataloging the room, which was slightly blurry. _...Probably from some drug or another,_ he thought absentmindedly. _Kabuto's never been especially picky with his medicines._

But what he could see was white: white walls and white equipment and white tiles. The only strange thing was that he couldn't see a door, which was odd, really, because most of Orochimaru's labs were connected to several other rooms, for viewing the results and monitoring things. _Genjutsu? Or maybe it's behind me..._ His hand twitched, and something tugged at his skin. Kidomaru remembered to turn his head. _Funny that I'd forgotten…_ There was an I.V. line attached to his hand, and several somethings were dripping into it.

He tried to swallow and winced. His mouth was pasty dry. _Fuck, I'm thirsty...and I've gotta pee._ Kidomaru shifted his weight a little, jostling an... _Oh god...I hate catheters._ He blinked down at his torso, which was uncomfortably bare, and narrowed his eyes. His stomach was bruised to hell, and still slightly raised. _They must've stopped the internal bleeding somehow._ He grinned, a little. _I ought to be thankful Kabuto's such a skilled healer._

But then Kidomaru remembered something. A leaf nin, pumping hot heavy chakra into his abdomen. Being tossed over a shoulder. Medics with a leaf hitai-ate holding him down, securing him to a cot.

His eyes widened, and his pulse jumped as his heart began to race. _I'm not at home._

 _I'm in the belly of the beast._


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings for abuse/physical and mental torture on children. This is going to be a rough story- kohona takes its security very seriously and does not care which enemies it hurts to protect itself. Please be aware of this.

Sakon was reeling. He was tied to something, a chair most likely, and the cell was spinning. He thought the dizziness was from dehydration- he'd been locked up for what felt like days, which probably meant it'd been a few hours since he first woke up. _Or, wait- when I woke...I was lying down...which means…_

"Oi!" said a loud voice in his ear, "don't go falling unconscious!" A heavy hand smacked Sakon's cheek, and the stinging woke him up. Sakon gasped and choked on a whimper. _I remember now, fuck..._

The Leaf nin wanted information. And Sakon could give it. So they'd strapped him to a chair and began working on him. They'd taken his fingernails first.

And now the interrogator was pinching his cheek and demanding, " _Why did they send you? Who is your master?"_

Sakon shook his head. _I won't betray Orochimaru-sama. I won't. I won't._

The man chuckled. "You have a high tolerance for pain, don't you? Hm. I wonder how they trained you." He pressed his thumb, lightly, over Sakon's swollen eye. Sakon swallowed, thickly.

"Don't." Sakon hated how weakened and scratchy his voice was.

He could practically hear the smile in the interrogator's voice. "Then answer my questions." The man pressed a little harder, and Sakon's breath caught on the edge of agony.

" _Don't._ " Sakon was desperate.

"You know," the man said, conversationally, "you can't be a ninja if you're blind."

And then he jammed his thumb into Sakon's eye, and the world narrowed to just that agonizing point on his face. Sakon tried wrenching away, backwards, anywhere, _anything was better than this pain-_

It took a few moments for Sakon to realize he was the one who was screaming. His eye was _raw_ and throbbing. His breathing was ragged and _wrong_. _I need...I need…_ Sakon wheezed.

"Where's- where's-"

"Answer me!" The voice was strong, loud, overwhelming, and something pressed hard against his other eye. Sakon screamed in horror and yanked his head sideways out from the interrogator's grip. _NOT AGAIN! Ukon...I need Ukon…_

" _Why did they send you?!_ "

Sakon whimpered. He could feel something slick and warm running down his cheeks. It could've blood or tears or pus or-

His breath was rapid, and Sakon knew that he'd have to get the words out before they stuck in his throat in his panic-

"Where's- where's-" Sakon took a shuddering breath, "-Ukon?"

" _Answer my questions,_ " the voiced growled in his ear, " _and I'll tell you."_ Something hard and unforgiving pressed against his throbbing eye, and that was _too much_. Sakon sobbed, and jerked his face to the side to dislodge the weapon, and then lunged forward to _bite_. His curse mark was burning, burning, _burning_ , but he did not have the chakra to release it. Something hit him hard across the face, and after a moment of flashing pain, the world got dark.

"Oi," a new voice said, "don't push too hard- _dammit, Frog, he's-"_

Sakon let the darkness take him.

Ukon's eyes had been throbbing on and off all day. _I wonder how Sakon is doing,_ he thought. He needed to piss, badly.

Kidomaru was sleepy. The mattress was soft, comfortable. And he was warm. Too warm, to be honest. And everything was..fuzzy. He forced his wandering eyes to glance at the I.V. stand that hovered near the side of his bed. He squinted- his eyes were oddly blurry- and managed to count one more I.V. bag than there had been a few hours ago. _I must've fallen asleep_ , Kidomaru thought, _even though I tried not to. And they must have hooked me up to something to disarm me…_ Kidomaru remembered his restraints, and the chakra binders, and the gauze forcing his fingers far apart, and thought, _damn, they really didn't need to drug me, too_.

But then there was a noise behind him, _a door creaking, I think…_ And a woman dressed in white walked to his bedside. She smiled. It was too wide and stretched and reminded Kidomaru of some of the kids he'd met at Orochimaru's laboratory. _They_ didn't quite know how to smile, either. "Hello," she said in a soft voice, "how are you feeling?"

Kidomaru would've felt angry had he not been drugged to hell and back. As it was, he felt only a vague prickling of unease. "M'okay," he said, before realizing that it was probably better not to speak at all. _Because the Leaf will take any information it can get._

"Well," the woman said with an even wider smile, "that's excellent. Now, are you comfortable?"

Kidomaru blinked sluggishly. _Was_ he comfortable? And then realized he was playing into her game, and so said nothing.

The woman pursed her lips. "Hm," she sighed, "I surely hope so. ...Now, I've got a few questions for you."

 _Here it comes_. Kidomaru would not let his guard down. He narrowed his eyes. The woman smiled at him back.

"What's your name?"

 _I see. She'll start with the easy ones to lull me into a false sense of security. Hmph. It won't work if I don't say a word._ Kidomaru smiled back at her, all teeth and sagging cheeks, and shrugged slowly, which was about the only way the drugs would let him.

The woman was not fazed. "I sure hope you remember, soon. Which village do you belong to?"

 _Are you serious?_ Kidomaru squinted at her, and then rolled his eyes up to his hitai-ate- which was gone, along with the rest of his equipment, of course-and then flushed. _Shit. Now she knows I was just fucking around with her first question and not too drugged. Dammit!_

The woman's smile widened with too many teeth. Kidomaru swallowed, thinking of those teeth and his throat and rusty smell of blood. "Ah, well, we both know your name hardly matters."

 _That's her way of letting me know that she knows._

"Why were you sent to attack the Village?"

Kidomaru wrinkled his nose. _It wasn't an attack on the village proper. ...She must be trying to get me to respond, to correct it…_

"What is your relationship with Orochimaru? Is he your master? Your teacher? How did you come by your arms? What is the nature of your interest in Uchiha Sasuke? Tell me about Orochimaru's interests? What are his future plans?"

Kidomaru frowned. The woman's face was completely blank, and she was reciting the questions like she was reading them off some sort of mental list. _What the hell kind of interrogation is this? She's not even giving me time to respond…_

The words started to blur together. Kidomaru closed his eyes to focus. The noise was heavy in his ears, like thickened water. There was a clicking sound, small in the barrage of noise, and then something was flooding into his veins and making him woozy He groaned. And then-

"How old are you?"

The question caught Kidomaru so off-guard that he responded without thinking. "F-fourteen?"

Suddenly his eyes were open and he was staring hazily into the face of the woman, who was smiling. "Very good," she purred, "now tell me about Orochimaru."

Kidomaru's tongue was heavy, and he struggled not to answer, but _he couldn't ignore the question._ His response grew in his throat and bubbled out, all slurred and heavy, but recognizable- "Orochimaru's th'master. He sent us here t'recruit that kid."

The woman's voice was honey-sweet as she compelled him to answer her every question.

Then, a strange one, accompanied by a knowing grin: "What are your teammates greatest fears?"

Kidomaru's throat closed up.

"Go on, tell me," she said, "I want to know what scares them the most."

 _No,_ Kidomaru thought, _you'll hurt them. Don't,_ he told himself, but his mouth was already opening, beyond his control. Kidomaru would rip out his throat to stop the talking, but he couldn't move. So instead he closed his eyes against the tears and listened to his voice tell the woman every single thing he knew.

The next time Kidomaru woke, the fog in his brain was gone. First, he noticed he was still strapped to the mattress, but on his belly this time. He guessed that was because he'd develop bedsores if he was left on his back all the time. Next, he remembered that he'd unintentionally sold his teammates out. _I sold Orochimaru out._ The thought brought bile to his mouth, and before he knew it, Kidomaru was dry heaving.

He lay in a puddle of his own vomit for hours before anyone came to check on him.

Kidomaru swore that if he ever saw that woman again he would skin her, and then kill her. Slowly.

They did not visit Sakon for what felt like days after.

Food was left for him at the front of his cell, pushed through a slat under the door. Sakon was expected to relieve himself in any corner of his choosing.

The swelling of his eyes had not gotten better since that man had shoved his thumbs into them. They were sensitive beyond belief, and that made it impossible for Sakon to sleep anywhere but on his back. On his sides his face would press into the bench and send fiery agony down his spine. They must be infected, Sakon thought. All of his wounds. There was a bad smell coming from the slice in his leg in particular. And it hurt to move it.

On top of that, Sakon had a fever. At one point it got so bad that he thought Ukon was still within him, hiding away from Sakon, and if he called loud enough, Ukon'd come out.

Sakon _missed_ his brother. Aside from the pain, he thought about Ukon the most. It was like missing a vital organ. Terrifying.

Without his brother grounding him Sakon felt lost and, worst of all, _alone._

It took two more meal cycles for Sakon to curl in a corner and refuse to move. _I'd rather starve than live without Ukon._

One meal cycle passed, and then the medics came.


	3. Chapter 3

Ukon sat alone and unrestrained in his cell. There was an itch under his skin, and it had only gotten worse as the days had passed. _Sakon_ , it was telling him, _find Sakon._ Ukon had taken to running his fingernails up and down his arms to distract himself from the feeling. Soon he was drawing blood.

There was no night or day in the murky twilight of the cells, but when Ukon was too tired to keep his eyes open any more, he'd let himself collapse in a dirty corner like a puppet with its strings cut. Sleep should have been an escape from the foul cell and the writhing loneliness under his skin, but it was not. Awake was unpleasant. Dreaming was _worse._

When he closed his eyes and his body shut down from sheer exhaustion all he could see were tunnels, endless dark catacombs, and he'd be wading through waist-deep sewage. _Ukon,_ a voice would say, echoing, far, deep in the tunnels, and it was Sakon. _Sakon,_ he'd yell back, in that slow difficult way of dreams. But his twin couldn't hear him. Sakon's cries would go from mildly worried to slightly frightened to screaming in terror, with that high-pitched keen Sakon reserved for when he was oblivious with pain. And Ukon would struggle against the fetid water as it suddenly surged, and he was drowning, drowning and looking for Sakon, but no matter how far he got in the tunnels, _Sakon was always one step ahead._

 _Just around that corner,_ Ukon'd think, and then a wave of sewage would bowl him over, and he'd be sputtering on a mouthful of foul water, and when he finally struggled past the corner Sakon was gone, screaming from somewhere close. _If I could just get around that bend-_

Ukon would wake with his heart pounding and the taste of bile in the back of his mouth.

Sakon came-to in a bright room with something yellow and blurry on the walls. His one good eye stung terribly so he shut it quick. The other one was still swollen shut, and he could feel the heavy puffiness of blood and pus draining from both his eye sockets.

Sakon tried to shift and found that he was bound by something. He thought about leaving his good eye closed, but curiosity got the better of him and he eased it open. It took a few minutes for his eye to adjust to the bright light, but once he was able to blink the tears from his eye he saw that the walls had big yellow sunflowers painted on them. There was a wide white band that stretched across his belly, and smaller bands that secured his hands to the cot he was lying on. His hands were swaddled with bandages- Sakon remembered his missing fingernails and shuddered. There was something off, that Sakon couldn't quite put his finger on, like there was something essential missing from him. Like his belly was inflated with air, and held no organs. Sakon frowned at the ceiling, and then he realized that he was, in addition to being empty, also as high as a kite. He closed his eye and dozed.

The nurses were trying to get Sakon to eat, but he wouldn't. Not until they put back whatever they'd taken from him. _Not his fingernails, though. They can keep those._

They gave up after Sakon bit one hard enough to draw blood.

 _Ukon,_ he remembered dully at the taste of blood in his mouth, _that's what they need to give back._

The next time a nurse came to adjust something, Sakon spit at him.

After Kidomaru had spilled his and all his teammate's secrets, they'd kept him in a drugged stupor. He wasn't sure if it had been hours or days since he'd squealed, or if any time had passed at all. There were a few meals. Most of them had to be tubed down his throat (or else he'd choke on them), but Kidomaru was too high to care. Everything was soft and slack and he managed to smile at one of the nurses. It took a frightening amount of effort to get his facial muscles to do it.

On the third day, Kidomaru was not administered any new medications. He was left to mellow out until the early evening, which was when Kidomaru found himself taken out of bed and bundled into a wheelchair. His hands were restrained with seals in his lap. They were completely limp.

He'd regained most of his mental clarity, but his movements were still lethargic and uncoordinated. Kidomaru growled. He felt grumpy and his head hurt and he was desperately hungry, and under all that he was also scared.

Kidomaru did not like feeling frightened. He also did not like being controlled.

He was frowning the entire time the nurse and his jonin escort wheeled him down the pale green corridors of the hospital. It was a far cry from Orochimaru's underground labs, which were dark and dank and musty. Kidomaru felt a sudden pang for the suffocating darkness he called home. He closed his eyes, remembering. The cramped quarters he shared with Jirobo and Tayuya and Sakon and Ukon. Kimimaro got his own rooms, of course. In the medical ward. Kidomaru swallowed hard, thinking of his teammates. He didn't know who was alive and who was dead. And he'd been the one who'd given away all their secrets. _I should be dead, after what I did._

Kidomaru was jerked out of his reverie when warm bright sunlight hit his face. He blinked, and said, "Where the hell are we going?"

Or, _tried_ to say, because what actually came out of his throat was a low rasping noise.

The Jonin strolling next to him gave him a cool look. Kidomaru scowled, and didn't bother trying again. _They're not going to answer me anyway._

Kidomaru tried to keep track of the twists and turns they made down suspiciously empty streets, but he was still too fuddled with drugs to be able to remember.

The arrived at an imposing looking building, which Kidomaru vaguely recalled from their mission briefing. _I think that's the main administrative building in Kohona._

 _Which means…_

"Oh, fuck," Kidomaru said, and this time, his tongue cooperated.

The Jonin gave him another glare. He had a weird face, Kidomaru decided. It was covered in cloth and the ninja's hair was standing on end like it had an electrical current running through it. Maybe it did. _Could be some stupid bloodline trait or another._

The ride in the elevator was tense. Kidomaru would have shrunk in his seat, but he knew that getting all hunched up wouldn't help. _Besides, I'm a ninja. Death doesn't scare me._ Kidomaru wrinkled his nose _...What a lie that was_.

Kohona's hokage was much prettier than Kidomaru had anticipated. He blinked at her for a few moments, feeling very, _very_ out of depth. _Isn't she supposed to be as old as Orochimaru? I mean, he has that soul-transfer justu, but even_ he's _got some wrinkles around his mouth._

Tsunade smiled at him. It was not a very nice smile.

Kidomaru felt what little hope that was left in him shrivel up and die. He couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes properly. She was almost like Orochimaru, in the cold way she was looking at him, except that to Orochimaru he had value being in one piece, and to Tsunade, he was better off divided into little jars to be looked at with the mild pleasure one would take with viewing a beautifully dissected pig.

Kidomaru swallowed, and found that his throat felt incredibly dry.

In front of him, the Godaime Hokage folded her hands onto her desk. She casually shoved an empty bottle of sake under her desk with her foot, and leaned forward.

"Well?" she said.

Kidomaru didn't know who she was addressing, so he simply shrank back into his chair. His heart was beating wildly in his ears. _By god, he could almost_ taste _the chakra that was rolling off the woman._

"Hm," drawled the silver haired jonin that stood just behind Kidomaru's shoulder, "do you really need to radiate your chakra like that? It's making my nose itch, and I know our prisoner is close enough to wetting his pants as it is."

Tsunade leveled a glare at the jonin, and then sighed. The level of chakra emanating from her dropped from searing to skin-tingling.

"You know how Tsunade gets when she's upset," said a small woman with a sweet face from over Tsunade's shoulder. She was holding a pig. Kidomaru blinked. He hadn't even noticed her entering. _Damn, I've gotten rusty._

"Hm," said the jonin noncommittally.

Tsunade wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, he _stinks_. Let's get this over with quickly, then, shall we?"

Kidomaru swallowed, _hard_.

The jonin sighed.

The Hokage, nose still wrinkled, said, "You're fourteen, yeah?"

Thinking back to the interrogation, Kidomaru nodded. _I won't speak if I can manage it._

"Same age as your teammates?"

Kidomaru nodded again. _Well, Kimimaro was fifteen. Not that it matters._

The Hokage's eyes narrowed, and Kidomaru can tell she knew he didn't bother correcting her. _Dammit. All the cards are in her hands._ "I'm going to propose a bargain."

Kidomaru frowned, and would've crossed his arms if they hadn't been restrained.

"I'd like to keep you here. In the Leaf village. I want to know what exactly Orochimaru did to you,"- here she waved a hand- "that Curse Mark of yours."

 _I won't betray Orochimaru so easily again!_ Kidomaru raised a brow, and then regretted it when something in the Hokage's eyes _blazed._

"Of course, I know you won't agree, so I wanted to let you know that even if you _don't_ consent, the Leaf Village will _still_ find out what exactly the Curse Mark is, and you won't like how we do it." Tsunade's smile widened. "Either we ask you a few questions and poke and prod at you for a bit, or we dissect you alive. The choice is yours."

Kidomaru could feel the the blood draining from his face and struggled to forget the sudden fuzzy image of Orochimaru with a scalpel and a grin.

Tsunade allowed a few moments to pass before she said, "Well? What's your answer?"

Kidomaru blinked. "I..ah, I need a little, um, time." His voice was rusty from disuse.

"You get another thirty seconds."

 _Shit..!_ Kidomaru glanced around the room. _What's better? To play along with them, or not? Unless...yeah. Playing along is my greatest chance for escape. And if I can...yeah. That'd work._

"Okay," Kidomaru began, _carefully, carefully,_ "I agree to answer your questions about th- my- Curse Mark, but on one condition."

Tsunade's eyebrows rose. "You really think you're in a place to bargain here?"

"It's, uhm. I just want to know what happened to my teammates." Kidomaru was on thin ice here, and he knew it. So he kept his gaze leveled defferentially just under Tsunade's eyes.

"Hm. You have balls. I'll allow it- your teammates are dead."

Kidomaru flinched and shut his eyes hard. It had been the answer he'd expected, and yet... _Oh gods. Jirobo._ Kidomaru felt his stomach twist.

"..Except for those twins. The twins are alive- not for long. We never did find the girl's body, though."

Kidomaru very carefully shutters all thoughts of Jirobo and Tayuya from his mind so he can focus on the living. His eyes are still closed tight. "The twins are...apart or…?"

Tsunade seemed to humor him, and continued, "They're separated."

 _That's bad. Very bad._ Kidomaru can feel his heart rate hitch up. "I don't think it's a good idea to keep them apart."

"Well, obviously _you_ wouldn't, hm?"

"Please." Kidomaru's heart is pounding loud in his ears, and he's finding it hard to think clearly through the guilt and fear and anger. "Let them- they might-"

Tsunade slams her hand open-palmed down onto the desk, and Kidomaru is shocked into silence by the sharp noise. "You're not here to bargain on their behalf. You've asked your question." She jerks her chin towards the jonin. "You. Take him to the place we agreed."

 _Fuck!_ "Wait!" Kidomaru said, loudly, but the jonin is already covering his mouth with a thin cold hand.

Tsunade watched them leave her office with a calculating look in her eyes.

When they were gone, she sighed.

"Shizune," she said, "Can you bring me that report again? And another bottle of sake. I have a headache."

"Tsunade-sama," (and Tsunade can _hear_ the reproach in Shizune's voice), "that'll be your second bottle. And sake isn't good for headaches-!"

Tsunade huffed, unwilling to argue, because she knows Shizune is right. "Bring me that report, then."

Shizune poked her head through the doorway. "Tsunade, the report is on your desk."

"Ugh," Tsunade grumbled, "I thought I gave it to you."

"Nope!" Shizune said, cheerily.

Before Shizune can disappear back into the adjoining room, Tsunade said, "Shizune. I want to discuss something with you."

By the time they get to the bottom floor of the administrative building, Kidomaru is struggling.

Every time the Jonin tries to wheel him forward, Kidomaru throws himself to the side in an attempt to capsize the wheelchair. He's being loud, too. Shouting things.

Finally, the Jonin stops pushing him. Kidomaru can hear him click on the wheel lock of the chair, and then the Jonin has walked in front of him and squatted down so he's at eye level with Kidomaru.

Kidomaru bared his teeth, all traces of the sedative gone.

The Jonin reached up and lazily pulled his forehead protector up, revealing a red spinning eye. Kidomaru blinked.

"Hush now," the Jonin said, and the world went black.


	4. Chapter 4

When Kidomaru regained consciousness, he was in a little grey cell. All his arms but one were limp, and there was something tight around his neck. He couldn't access his chakra network at all, so there was no possible way for him to activate the Cursed Seal. _Dammit._ Kidomaru scowled, and then winced at the pain in his abdomen. He lifted his shirt (a ratty grey tank top that'd obviously been sliced open to make room for his extra arms) to peer at his belly.

It was still slightly swollen and looked like one giant bruise. Kidomaru sighed, and reached absentmindedly to fiddle with whatever they'd put on his neck. Felt like bandages, or…

Kidomaru flushed with anger. _A collar?! Those fuckers!_

He ground his teeth and took deep, calming breaths.

After a few moments he sat back down on the cot, wincing when one of his dangling elbows banged against the side of it. He used his one arm to arrange the others- it was time consuming and annoying and Kidomaru felt more than a little ridiculous. _How humiliating._

Then he lay back to stare at the ceiling. Kidomaru wasn't sleepy, exactly, but he was _tired_ (a side effect of his injury, probably). And he had a lot to think about. Kidomaru closed his eyes and thought of the twins.

 _She said that they're alive. But not for very long._ Kidomaru swallowed hard past the tightening in his throat. _I don't know how the twins will handle being separated. I've never seen them apart for more than a day. And Ukon nearly ripped my head off that time Sakon was gone on a mission without him. In fact...I don't think I've ever seen him so livid._

Jirobo's face swam into view across the inside of Kidomaru's eyelids, and he choked on an emotion he couldn't quite identify. It was part rage, part desperation- _could the Hokage have been lying_? But Kidomaru didn't think she had.

He tried to blink back the tears, but they ended up streaming down his face anyways. Next thing he knew, his breath was hitching on sobs. Kidomaru brought his hand up to his mouth to stifle the noises he made as he hyperventilated and closed his eyes hard. _Jirobo is gone. And I didn't even get to say goodbye._

Out of the Sound Four, Kidomaru had known Jirobo the longest. They'd practically grown up together. Seeing Jirobo was like coming home. And now, Kidomaru would never have that again.

"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi said, as he climbed through the window, "I delivered him. Can I go now?"

"Why can't you use the door like a normal human being," Tsunade groused, "and no, I want to ask you something."

Kakashi sighed and slouched over to her desk. "What?"

Tsunade folded her hands together, and Kakashi's eye narrowed. _She only does that when she's about to get serious._

"I'd like for you to keep an eye on the kid. Not the twins- they're under observation already. I want you to gauge how he's doing internally. And report if he says anything interesting to me, of course."

Kakashi huffed. "Why won't you assign this to a chunin? Iruka could do it."

Tsunade glared. "Iruka has to teach, you ass. And I don't want the kid getting out- he's nearly killed Jounin before. Two of them."

Kakashi crossed his arms. "I have my own team too, you know."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Did I stutter? Besides, Naruto has Jiriaya, and I'm going to take Sakura on as my disciple."

Tsunade smirked as Kakashi's jaw nearly dropped. " _You're_ going to teach Sakura?!"

"Yes. She's got potential and she's extremely smart."

Kakashi regained his composure quickly. "Is this your way of telling me Team Seven is disbanded?"

Tsunade shrugged. "Not officially. But we can't afford to send ninja to retrieve Sasuke, and according to Naruto's report Sasuke decided to go willingly." _The bastard._

Kakashi nodded, face suddenly getting tight at the reminder.

"I'm sorry," Tsunade added, "but we do have to move on."

"Naruto needed time away from the village anyway. Jiriaya's a better teacher for him, too."

Tsunade frowned. _Kakashi's shitty self-image just took a nosedive, dammit. It'd better not affect his performance._ "Yamato came back from his mission early."

Kakashi gave her a look like he knew what she was doing, and then nodded.

"That was your invitation to leave my office, Hatake."

"Mm." Ever the oddball, Kakashi left via the window. Tsunade put her head in her hands.

"Dammit."

"Yamato~!" Kakashi called out as he entered their shared apartment.

"In the kitchen," answered Yamato.

"You're home early," Kakashi said as he pulled out a chair at the table. Yamato was busy eating something- it looked like tomatoes, cabbage, and peanut butter shoved between two pieces of bread. Kakashi wrinkled his nose.

"Yamato, that looks disgusting."

"It is," agreed Yamato, before taking another large bite, "but I'm starving. And I still have to clean up."

"You do smell like blood," Kakashi said, "and you've got ash all across your face."

Yamato grunted and continued to eat. His shoulders were tense, and every time a cricket wailed outside he twitched. _He's still on high alert._

"I'll run the bath?" suggested Kakashi.

"No, I'm taking a shower." Yamato's response was quick, almost snappy.

 _Definitely on high alert. He only takes a shower when he's antsy._

"Will you be sleeping in the bed tonight?" Kakashi says this carefully, because he doesn't want to offend Yamato. His husband could be really flighty when he got home after an intense mission- it wasn't uncommon for Yamato to sleep on the couch so he wouldn't accidentally stab Kakashi with a kunai if he happened to brush Yamato in his sleep.

"No. Sorry."

Kakashi held up a hand. "Don't worry about it. I do the same."

"I know." Yamato polished off the sandwich and stretched. "I'm going to shower. Tell me about your day?"

"Okay," said Kakashi easily, and followed Yamato to the bathroom.

Yamato listened silently and with great patience as Kakashi told him the events of the day (greatly exaggerated, of course).

Slowly, to Kakashi's delight, Yamato's shoulders got less tense, and his frown lifted.

"Thanks," Yamato said as he stepped out, "that helped a lot."

Kakashi smiled. It was genuine, for once. "I know."

Yamato raised a brow. "There's something else."

Kakashi sighed heavily. "You read me like a book, dammit."

"Well, I _am_ your husband." Yamato smiled a little, and something in Kakashi's heart felt full of warmth for a second. It vanished quickly, though, when he remembered what happened.

"Well, Team Seven's unofficially disbanded, and I got assigned babysitting duty to one of those Sound Ninja."

"Mm. That's going to be interesting." Yamato finished toweling off his hair.

Kakashi sighed and eyed a drop of water as it made its way down the curve of Yamato's back.

"Sasuke isn't your fault."

"Eh?" Kakashi looked up.

"I said, Sasuke isn't your fault. He chose Orochimaru of his own volition."

"But-"

"No buts."

Kakashi huffed.

Yamato got close to look him in the eye. "Don't you dare blame yourself."

Kakashi grumbled. "I still feel responsible."

"It's honestly really the village's fault, and that's all I'm going to say about it."

"How the hell is it the village's fault?!"

Yamato gave Kakashi a _look_. "We'll discuss later. Right now I'm too tired."

"...okay, fine." Kakashi couldn't keep the petulance out of his voice, but he smiled when Yamato kissed the side of his mouth through his mask.

"Goodnight, Kakashi. Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"'Night, Yamato. ...And I won't."

The ninja with the electric silver hair was looming over him with a plate of food when Kidomaru woke.

Kidomaru gasped, leapt up (only stumbling a little), and the plate of food nearly went tumbling to the floor. It was saved by the the Jonin's graceful steps backwards, though. "What the hell?!" Kidomaru exclaimed, more out of custom than out of a need for conversation.

"Maa, you're jumpy." The man's voice was just a little _too_ relaxed, and Kidomaru could swear that he was smiling under that damn mask. It made Kidomaru feel jumpy.

Kidomaru tried crossing his arms defensively, but then remembered he could move only one and ended up grabbing the opposite arm awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"

"It's time to eat, yeah?"

Kidomaru scowled. "And you had to deliver it personally?"

"Yep." The ninja popped the "P". _Too cheery._ Kidomaru's left eye twitched against his will. The ninja reached around Kidomaru to sit the tray of food on the cot. Kidomaru eyed the soup and green beans before cautiously picking the plate up. He sniffed it and wrinkled his nose. "How do I know it's not poisoned?"

"So suspicious, prisoner-san! We wouldn't want you dead if we were going to study you, hm?"

"Her mind could've changed," Kidomaru muttered, but flopped back onto the cot and started picking at the food.

The jounin was watching him, carefully, and Kidomaru felt like his skin was prickly all over. Kidomaru's neck ached slightly from where the collar had bitten into his skin during the night.

"Do you have to stare?" He grumbled.

The jounin didn't respond except to cross his arms and lean against the wall.

Kidomaru's food was finished far too soon, and then he remembered Sakon and Ukon with a stomach churning twist.

"Jounin-san," Kidomaru started carefully, "are Sakon and Ukon given food regularly?"

The jounin reached forward and snatched the tray out of Kidomaru's hand. He let it go, and felt his mouth folding thin when the man did not answer.

"I-" Kidomaru stopped when the man turned and made towards the door. He swallowed thickly, feeling bile rising alongside guilt in his throat. "They need each other. Sakon and Ukon."

The jounin paused for a moment, then rasped, "I'll be by later with some tests for you."

Kidomaru bit his lip and held his tongue. _You fucker._

It wasn't until after Tsunade received four reports of the twin's steadily worsening mental and physical states that she finally crossed her fingers and considered letting the twins meet each other. It wouldn't do to allow two assets to die like that, because the Leaf needed all the information on Orochimaru's operations it could get. The only risk, Tsunade supposed, was that the twins might join together and refuse to separate.

 _But even so_ , she mused, _them sharing a body wouldn't be so much of a problem- more like a nuisance. And we could study them._

Tsunade sighed, then, decision made.

She would allow the twins to meet.

When Kakashi heard that Tsunade meant for two of the Sound ninja to meet each other, he was mildly annoyed. In fact, when she told him, Kakashi'd snorted something along the lines of, "Well, if you're going to allow that pair of twins to meet, you may as well shove our spider-boy in there, too."

"Sure," Tsunade had said, and Kakashi's eyes widened comically.

"Tsunade-sama?!"

"I said, 'yes'," Tsunade repeated herself grouchily.

Kakashi closed his eyes against the headache that had begun to build. "Tsunade, that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard you consider. Any _genin_ could tell you that putting two- much less three-prisoners in the same room is asking for disaster."

Tsunade waved away his complaint. "They're all cut off from their chakra networks. And I think building a bit of trust between them and us is a good thing, no?"

Kakashi grumbled to himself but didn't bother trying to convince her. Once Tsunade made up her mind about something, that was that.

"I'll let you know when the room is ready for them."

Kakashi grunted. "I'll be keeping him in a wheelchair. The kid assigned to me, I mean."

Tsunade grinned. "Good idea."

When they came for Ukon in his cell, he was curled on his side. _They're here to kill me_ , Ukon thought despondently, right as one of the ninja pulled him up by his arm. Ukon didn't have the energy to keep his head up, so he let it sag so his eyes were staring at the ground. His knees were bent, too. The ninja holding his arm was supporting all his weight.

"Oi," one of the ninja was shaking him, now, and Ukon felt vaguely ill. "Stop moping and stand up."

It took a few moments for Ukon to process, but then, with great effort, he straightened his legs. He had the indistinct thought that he kind of wished he were dead. _Sakon's not here_.

Ukon was dull and slow and clumsy as the ninja dragged him out of the cell.

He was too depressed to care where they were going.

When Ukon saw Sakon across the room, it was like the world burst back into color. He took a breath, then two, and yanked his arm out from under the grip of the ninja escorting him. The ninja made a sound, a mild annoyed one, but Ukon didn't care, because Ukon'd already hurtled himself across the room and was pulling his brother close. Sakon was stiff at first, and Ukon realized there was something wrong with Sakon's vision, because as soon as Sakon got a whiff of Ukon he relaxed and practically clawed Ukon into a hug.

By the time Ukon pulled back from their embrace to get a better look at Sakon, his twin was shuddering with repressed tears. Ukon snarled, "The bastards will pay," and pulled Sakon in close again, who promptly buried his face in the crook of Ukon's shoulder and neck. Ukon could _feel_ what the interrogators had done to his brother echoing across their shared link. The link had been muted before, but now that they were touching again the flow of information had exploded.

 _Gods,_ he had missed this. Missed his brother.

Ukon did his best to blink back his tears, but they spilled over anyway, leaving hot trails down his cheeks. Sakon was making a soggy wet mess of his shirt, and Ukon would've chastised him, except that he didn't have the stomach for it. Not now of all times.

"Hey," said a familiar voice.

Ukon looked up from Sakon's shoulder and his breath hitched. Sakon was still too busy clinging to his twin to notice.

"Kidomaru," Ukon said, feeling a wash of relief. _Maybe the others made it. If Kidomaru did, then there's a chance that…I mean, I never really cared for them much personally, but they_ were _my team._

"Hngh," mumbled Sakon, and he looked up with red-rimmed eyes at Kidomaru.

An odd expression flitted across Kidomaru's face for a moment before he lifted an arm in an half-hearted wave, and Ukon would say it was guilt save for the fact he _knew_ Kidomaru didn't feel guilty-ever. Ukon's eyes narrowed. _Something's up._

Kidomaru wheeled over.

Ukon gave him a once-over, frowning. _If they did something to him, too…_

Sakon blinked. "Why are you stuck in that wheelchair?"

Kidomaru gave a strained smile. "It's not for long. I'll be out of it soon."

Ukon grunted. _Good._

Sakon smiled, looking watery. "Do you know if anyone else made it?"

Kidomaru's smile faltered, and then fell flat. His eyes got that hard sharp look they did when he gave an unsatisfactory report to Kabuto, and he said, "No," in a harsh breath.

Ukon bit his lip, and Sakon sunk further back into Ukon's belly. Ukon was pretty sure Sakon wasn't aware he was doing it. "They're dead, then."

Kidomaru's mouth is a hard line, pulling down at the edges. "Jirobo is. They couldn't find Tayuya's body."

Ukon remembers how close Jirobo and Kidomaru had been. _They'd been friends. ...No. More than that, I think._

Sakon blinked up at Ukon and added offhandedly, _I mean, I caught them kissing that one time._

Ukon nods, grateful that their mental bond has resurfaced.

Meanwhile, Kidomaru's shoulders are stiff with tension and he's swiping at his eyes angrily.

"Well," Ukon said, "that means she probably escaped."

"No, it just means she was sliced up too small to find." A moment passed, and Kidomaru adds, "Jirobo is _dead_." Kidomaru is angry, Ukon can see now. Jiribo's death doesn't bother Ukon in the same way. _It_ is _an annoyance, though. And a shame, really. Jirobo kept everyone in line. Especially Tayuya. Though now that she's gone..._

Ukon was jerked out of his reverie when Kidomaru spat, "Not that you ever cared about him, though, you bastards."

Sakon made a hissing noise, and Ukon tried to be offended, because he knows intellectually that he should be, but he can't muster the energy.

Kidomaru makes an angry noise and turns his face away.

The room is quiet for a few minutes while Kidomaru collects himself, and Ukon busies himself with checking for more injuries along Sakon's arms. He frowned. Sakon's arms used to be ropey with muscle, but he can see that they are smaller now. Ukon supposed it's because the fat deposits that ran alongside the underneath of Sakon's arms have been depleted and his muscles have atrophied. _Bastards starved him._ Not that Ukon hadn't lost weight himself. Ukon was sure that he'd be able to count his ribs in a mirror.

"So," he said to Kidomaru, mostly to distract him from Jirobo, "what happened to you?"

Kidomaru glared at Ukon for a moment, but then the look was replaced with one of embarrassment. "I lost to that stupid kid."

Sakon snorted. "Dumbass."

Kidomaru fixed Sakon with one of his Looks. "You two got bested by one of those whiny brats, too."

Ukon grumbled. Sakon sighed. Kidomaru looked pleased with himself. For a lovely moment, it felt like the team was back together and whole again. But when Tayuya failed to add a cutting comment and Jirobo didn't chastise her, the three were reminded of harsh reality.

Kidomaru looked gloomier than ever.

Ukon felt vaguely guilty.

Sakon retreated further into his brother's body.


End file.
